A heat sink may be used in computers and electronic systems as a passive heat exchanger, and may act as a reservoir that can absorb an arbitrary amount of heat without significantly changing temperature. Heat sinks may be used in computers, for example, to cool devices such as central processing units (CPUs) and/or graphics processing units (GPUs).
A heat sink may also dissipate heat produced by electronic devices into a medium, such as air, water, or a coolant/refrigerant. Heat sinks may reach a temperature greater than a cooling medium, in order to transfer heat across a thermal gradient from an electronic device to the medium, by convection, radiation, or conduction.
A thermal interface material (TIM) may be used to enhance heat transfer between an electronic device, such as an integrated circuit (IC), and a heat sink, and may be fabricated from thermally conductive material. A TIM may increase thermal conductivity by replacing irregularities and air gaps between adjacent, mating surfaces (e.g., of the IC and the heat sink) with a thermally conductive material.